Victim was sitting in a car when the garage's top level fell onto floor below

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MONTREAL — The top story of a parking garage collapsed Wednesday dropping a giant slab of onto the floor below and killing one man, authorities said.

The slab measuring about 30 meters by 30 meters (30 yards by 30 yards) buckled and collapsed, crushing several cars.

The victim, a man in his late 30s or early 40s who worked for a courier company, was sitting in a car at the time, said Aime Charette, chief of operations with the Montreal fire department.

An emergency call was made at 8:47 a.m. EDT from a daycare on the first floor of the high-rise building attached to the garage after daycare employees heard rumbling and felt vibrations, said Charette.

It took firefighters hours to remove the man's body from beneath the rubble. A handful of victims were treated for shock, but none of their injuries were serious, Charette said.

About 500 people were evacuated from the 17-story building attached to the parking lot as a safety precaution, Charette said.

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